Senator Questions Health Undersecretary's Role in Infrastructure Program

A senator questioned Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa on Monday about why Health Undersecretary Glenn Mathew Baggao continues to oversee the Health Facilities Enhancement Program while facing a graft complaint involving infrastructure projects awarded to his brother.

The inquiry occurred during a joint Senate hearing by the health, local government, and finance committees. The senator asked whether Herbosa was aware that contracts for health facilities had gone to a firm owned by Erni Baggao, brother of the undersecretary and operator of EGB Construction.

Herbosa responded that he had asked the undersecretary, who stated his brother held no contracts with the Department of Health. A Rappler investigative report published in March 2026 found that EGB Construction secured five contracts in 2025 totaling about 141 million pesos to build super health centers and district hospitals.

Three came from the Department of Public Works and Highways and two from the Isabela provincial government. The senator maintained there was a clear conflict of interest because the undersecretary holds a senior Department of Health position and the projects involve health infrastructure.

The undersecretary was appointed to lead the Public Health Services Cluster in 2024 and assumed responsibility for the Health Facilities Enhancement Program in February 2026. Herbosa noted that the undersecretary was not yet heading the program when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

publicly listed companies, including EGB Construction, as recipients of major government projects in August 2025. At that time, another official oversaw the program. The undersecretary denied any involvement in his brother's projects. He stated that when designated to the role on February 9, the contracts in question had already been awarded the previous year.

Herbosa said the Department of Health would wait for the Office of the Ombudsman to complete its investigation and issue a formal written recommendation on whether the undersecretary should be suspended or reassigned. The senator and the chairperson of the Senate health committee urged the department to act on its own initiative.

The senator argued that while the undersecretary's appointment was understood, the pending Ombudsman complaint warranted reassignment during the review to avoid any appearance of influence over transactions. The undersecretary told the committee he is considering stepping down from the program role while the complaint remains pending and that he had initially asked three times to be relieved of the post.

The senator also raised a separate graft complaint filed against both the health secretary and the undersecretary alleging irregularities in the 1.8-billion-peso procurement of mobile clinics. Herbosa said multiple anonymous complaints had been filed and that he would await the Ombudsman's determination of a prima facie case before considering suspension.

Herbosa faces another graft complaint related to 1.5 billion pesos in vaccines and medicines described as wasted during his tenure. The Senate panels also examined broader issues with the Health Facilities Enhancement Program, including unfinished facilities, underutilized funds, and shortages of medical personnel for completed centers.